Teamwork and Internal Labour Markets: A Study of a Canadian Aluminium Smelter

This article seeks to explain the difficulties of introducing and benefiting from teamwork in North American unionized settings. Detailed observation and interviews in an aluminium smelter reveal that the potential of more flexible and collective work arrangements was limited by institutional constraints. Some recurring tensions relate to the interplay between the system of rules already in place, which govern the internal labour market, and the new pattern of work which management seeks to implement.